


All for Naught

by steamforge



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Mass Effect 3, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-24
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-26 21:52:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2667617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steamforge/pseuds/steamforge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack waits at a bar for Shepard</p>
            </blockquote>





	All for Naught

**Author's Note:**

> For H

Six months had gone by since Jack saw Commander Shepard and six days had passed since he saved Grissom Academy from a Cerberus attack. She was pissed off that he hadn’t contacted her but after fighting alongside Shepard at her school, she was hot for him all over again. Damn him.

Supporting the 103rd, Jack’s students had all gone off to the war against the Reapers. Holding barriers should be easy enough for them, but Rodriguez sometimes lost focus under pressure and forget about Prangley’s ‘weak ass’ shields. “They are ready,” she keeps telling herself, “trained by the best,” her, but she worried about them. She would ‘watch’ them through lame reports and boring rosters as best she could. Without her students, without Shepard, she felt alone.

Jack hadn’t felt alone since before Shepard rescued her from that prison ship. She had always felt alone, even when she was with others. Alone in a class of cruel kids calling her names. Alone in a lab full of fucking scientists cutting on her. Alone in a ship full of goddamn pirates taking their pound of flesh from her. Alone, frozen, in a prison ship with the perfect name: Purgatory.

“Purgatory,” Jack thought, “that’s why this fucking place is taking me down memory lane.” Looking up, she realized the bar she was in was called Purgatory. “And here I thought I came for the loud synth music and watered down drinks.” She had come there for another reason: Shepard. Shepard, who was the only person, in the history of whenever, to treat her like a normal fucking human. He saw past her tattoos, her biotic power and her bad attitude. She wiped a small tear away. “I’m so fucking fragile,” she said to an unfortunate Volus who dropped his drink as he wandered past her table.

Word had reached Jack that the Normandy, Shepard’s ship, was stopping off at the Citadel for supplies. She knew that meant Shepard was actually there to gather more support for the war. Would she see him again? “Probably too busy with those Council pricks,” she thought to herself. So why was she at this bar waiting for him? Jack took another swig of her drink. She often got a kick out of ordering a drink which shared the same name her: Jack. Wordplay made her smile. Not many people knew that about her. Shepard knew. “Dammit! Stop thinking about him,” she shouted, louder than the music. This time, a very proper Asari clutched herself as she walked past. Jack smirked.

A vibration went off in Jack’s datapad. This meant an update to the duty roster she was looking at. One of her students had been moved from a morning shift. She felt a bit of relief that the notice was something boring. These notifications would only be interesting if something bad happened, that’s why she always looked. She figured the one time she didn’t look, something would have happened to her kids. Her kids. Just the thought that she could be a good teacher made her laugh. Who was she to teach anyone? Why would they listen? But there she was, teacher of the year. “Last” teacher of the year. Grissom Academy was gone, lost to Cerberus. At least those fucking Cerberus jerks were taken out by the Reapers. 

Grissom had been Jack’s home for six months. ‘Home’, was something she never had before. Sure, she had places she slept, stayed or laid low for periods of time, but they were never ‘home’. On the Normandy, she began to feel at home, thanks to Shepard. 

Jack had kept to herself on the ship, and had thought Shepard must have been like every other dirtbag guy, thought he must have been a jerk by the way he spoke down to her too. Jack hadn’t realized Shepard was a nice guy and that he wasn’t talking down to her, but actually considering her feelings. She tried to offer herself up to him but he surprised her by turning her down. Who the fuck was he turn down her down? He surprised her again by talking with her, trying to get to know her. No one had ever done that. “Shepard must be weak,” she thought, "must be all talk." She found out soon enough that Shepard fought like the devil and was a man of his word when he helped her blow the shit outta the lab she was cut up on. “Damn, that was hot,” she thought. She shifted in her chair, feeling a bit hot herself.

Finishing her drink, Jack thought about how Shepard had been very sweet to her. He had given her space and time to deal with all the shit going on in her head. This only made him hotter in her eyes. She knew he wanted her. She saw how he looked at her. He wasn’t just looking at her tits, though Jack knew he looked. Shepard actually looked into her eyes when they spoke. She had told him about the last guy she got close to. “Goddam it,” she wiped another tear away. “What’s the matter,” she asked a passing Elcor, “Never seen a hormonal biotic before?”

Thinking about being with Shepard made her feel happy, horny, but happy. Happy that he was with her and not just taking advantage of her. Shepard had been gentle, yet forceful at the same time. He was always respectful in the way he guided their lovemaking, always checking in with her before telling her without words what would happen next. Jack had been feeling very vulnerable that night in his bed and thankful he had taken his time with her. The way he just held her, made her feel safe as she nestled in the crook of his neck. God, he had smelled so fucking good. “Next time,” she thought, “I’ll show him what the most powerful biotic in the galaxy can do to him in the sack.” A mischievous smile crossed her lips. Jack closed her eyes and felt a wave of sexual energy crawl across her body. She ran her own fingers through her hair, remembering Shepard’s touch. 

Opening her eyes again she saw him, saw Shepard, here, in Purgatory. “Oh God,” she muttered to herself, “did he just see that?” Shepard moved through the crowded bar. Last time she saw him was on Grissom in his full armor. He looked hot in that armor. She wanted to see him out of that armor. Now Shepard was wearing some sort of Alliance suit. “The man cleans up nice.” she thought. He was looking for someone. She tried looking where he was looking. She then realized he was looking for her. His eyes met hers and he tried to hide a smile. Quickly, Jack fixed her hair in the most nonchalant way possible and picked up her datapad to pretend to read it. Making his way toward her, Shepard bumped into someone who dropped their drink. Shepard stopped to help them clean up. “Such a boy scout,” she laughed. 

Finally, Shepard made his way to Jack’s table. She casually looked up at him to play it cool as if she just noticed him. “Hey, soldier. Buy a girl a drink?”


End file.
